Takedown archery bow



Dec. 10, 1968 F. B. BEAR TAKEDOWN ARCHERY BOW Filed Oct. 14, 1965INVENTOR fee 35w? ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,415,240 TAKEDOWNARCHERY BOW Fred B. Bear, Grayling, Micln, assignor, by mesneassignments, to Victor Comptometer Corporation, Chicago, 11]., acorporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 495,836 8 Claims.(Cl. 124-23) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An archery bow having a handlesection and a pair of separate limbs including tapered socket members inthe ends of the handle section which receive tapered butt portions ofthe limbs. The assembly includes displaceable block means within thesockets operable to tightly engage and release the butt portionsdisposed within the socket members.

This invention relates generally to archery bows and more particularlyto a takedown bow including a rigid handle section and a pair ofremovable outer limbs.

Takedown bows as such have been known for some time, the principalrecognized advantages of such construction being the case of shipping,transporting and storing the bow when in its disassembled position. Inthe past, however, several disadvantages have been inherent in thetakedown bow construction. In those bows which were constructed with aferrule for engaging a removable limb having parallel sides, it waspractically impossible to provide a construction which would permitassembly and disassembly while at the same time providing a joint whichdid not squeak or rattle during use of the bow. The principaldisadvantage of the prior known takedown bows employing a tapered socketarrangement was that when the two limbs were inserted into the socketscarried by the handle sections, and the how was subsequently strung andultimately drawn, it was found that in view of the tapered joint, thetwo limbs were forced so tightly into an assembled relationship that itwas extremely difiicult to disassemble the bow without the necessity ofcalling upon the use of tools to pry apart the limbs from the handlesection.

The present invention provides for a bow construction which overcomesthe difficulties encountered with the previous takedown bows byproviding a tapered socket at either end of a handle section for thereception of the tapered ends of an upper and lower bow limb. Novelmeans are incorporated for releasing the wedge lock action of the socketupon the ends of the limb when it is desired to disassemble thetake-apart bow. Also, means are provided for permitting alignment ofeach of the two removable limb sections of the bow with respect to eachother and the handle section, it being a well-known disadvantage of themajority of the takedown bows that the ends of the two limbs oftenbecome misaligned with a resulting decided adverse effect upon theaccuracy of the bow thereafter.

With the present bow construction it will be readily appreciated on areview of the following description that means are provided wherebyshould an archer accidently damage only one of the limbs of the bow,then it is not necessary for him to dis-card the entire how but he maymerely purchase for replacement one of the limbs. Also, since most avidarchers maintain several bows for use under varying conditions such astarget shooting and different types of game hunting it will follow thatby use of a takedown bow according to the present invention it will bepossible to substitute only the two limbs when it is desired to changefrom a bow having a draw of say 40 pounds to one of say 70 pounds.

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Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to providean archery bow of an improved takedown construction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a takedown archerybow including a handle section having tapered socket assemblies ateither end thereof and cooperating with tapered end portions on an upperand lower detachable limb.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a takedownarchery bow having socket means on the handle section for joining withtapered or wedge-shaped end portions on the limb section and havingfinger manipulatable release means for relieving the wedge locking ofthe limbs to the handle section.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a takedownbow including a handle section provided with wedge socket attachingmeans at the ends thereof for reception of tapered end portions of thearchery bow limbs and including adjustable means for maintaining properalignment between the upper and lower limbs of the bow.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an archery bow according to the presentinvention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged partial side elevation, partly in section,showing in detail the wedge lock arrangement,

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 withthe lower limb separated from the handle section, and

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the handle section taken along the line 4-4of FIGURE 2 with the limb removed for clarity.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly FIGURE 1, it will be seenthat the present invention provides an archery bow of takedownconstruction and includes a handle section 1 and a removable upper limb2 and lower limb 3. The handle section 1 may be of any desirableconfiguration and will preferably include a contoured hand grip 4 andany other well-known features not forming a part of the presentinvention, such as how sights, arrow rests, etc. Fixedly mounted withinthe two ends of the handle section 1 is a tapered upper socket member 5and lower socket member 6 having their enlarged open portions directedupwardly and downwardly, respectively. The sockets 5 and 6 arepreferably permanently attached to the ends of the handle section at thetime of manufacture of the how, it being readily appreciated, that whenthe bow is assembled and strung that a tremendous pressure is exerted bythe flexed limbs 2 and 3 through the sockets into the handle section.

The present invention is not limited to any specific construction forthe handle section and limbs, it being understood that any suitablematerial may be utilized in forming these components during constructionof the present invention, such as the well-known archery woods, and themore recently developed plastic and glass fiber laminates. Regardless ofthe selection of material for constructing the present bow, one of theprimary objectives is to insure an even distribution of stressparticularly throughout the handle section during use of the assembledbow. In many of the prior known takedown bows, lack of an evendistribution of stress in this area was a prime fault of the bow. Inorder to overcome this disadvantage,

it is proposed to provide the present sockets 5 and 6 with reinforcingmeans in the form of one or more tangs rigidly attached to the socketsand arranged to be enclosed or embedded within the body of the handlesection 1. As will be seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, a front tang 7 projectslongitudinally from each socket towards the center of the handle sectionand is spaced inwardly within the handle section immediately adjacentthe belly or front 8 of the bow handle. Additionally, similarreinforcing means in the form of a rear tang 9 may projectlongitudinally towards the center of the handle section from each of thesockets 5 and 6 with its free end spaced inwardly within the handlesection from the back 10 of the bow as shown in FIGURE 1.

Upon reviewing FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the tangs 7 are likewisespaced inwardly from the two sides of the bow handle thus illustratingthat the projecting ends of all of the tangs are completely enclosed byor embedded within the material of the handle section 1. To furtherinsure the rigidity of the thus disposed sockets and their tangs withinthe handle section, the periphery of the tangs may be provided with anirregular contour such as the notches 7a and likewise, a plurality ofopenings 7b may be provided through the center portions of the tangs. Inthis manner it will be understood that during the assembly of the socketmembers within the handle section, wherein the handle is made up of aplurality of laminations, it will follow that the adhesive materialutilized in the formation of the assembled handle sections will enterinto these notches and openings to further connect the adjacentlaminations surrounding the tangs 7.

Depending upon the draw of the completed bow and the particularconfiguration of the handle section under consideration, it may bedesired to provide positive rigid means for interconnecting the twosocket assemblies ineluding their related tangs. As illustrated inFIGURE 1 wherein a pair of tangs are provided on each socket, a tie rod11 is connected at either end to the free projecting ends of the tworear tangs 9 by any suitable means. Quite obviously for the sake ofappearance and also to obtain the maximum strength from suchinterconnecting means, the tie rod 11 is embedded within the confines ofthe four sides of the handle section 1. Thus, it will be observed thatas the bow is assembled and strung and subsequently drawn, the stressesdelivered through the flexed limbs to the socket assemblies andultimately the projecting ends of the tangs will result in a tendencyfor the ends of the tangs to be urged in a direction toward the back 10of the bow handle. However, in view of the tie rod 11, which may be ofmetal or any other material having substantial longitudinal rigidity,the two opposed rear tangs 9 will be prevented from moving in thisdirection.

Considering now the specific construction of the upper and lower sockets5 and 6, it will first be understood that each of these two sockets isconstructed similarly and comprises a planar front wall 12 and rear wall13 which are inclined inwardly from the open end of the socket toprovide a tapered socket opening terminating at the curved bottom wall15 joining the front and rear walls. The front and rear walls preferablyextend the width or lateral thickness of the bow handle at its ends andare joined together by means of a pair of oppositely disposed side walls16 and 17. As will be seen in FIGURE 3 these side walls 16, 17 areparallel to one another.

In the embodiment including the single tank 7 projecting from eachsocket, means are provided for attaching the tie rod 11 directly to thesockets. The rear wall 13 is formed with a central tie rod cavity 1311the bottom wall 13b of which is preferably disposed flush with the back10 of the bow. The end wall 130 of the cavity 13a contains an openingfor the reception of the free end of the tie rod 11 which is fastened inplace by means of a suitable nut 11a.

The novel connection between the limbs and sockets of the presentinvention is achieved due to the relative construction of the butt endportions 18 of the limbs 2 and 3 and the respective above describedsocket openings. As will be seen in FIGURE 3, the butt portions 18 ofthe limbs are of a reduced lateral dimension adjacent the free endsthereof which would be contiguous to the bottom Wall 15 of the socketwhen the limb is fully assembled. This arrangement provides a lateraldimension adjacent the free end of the butt 18 which, as will be seen,is substantially less than the corresponding internal lateral dimensionof the socket member. Preferably, the side walls of the limbs adjacentthe free end thereof are disposed in a parallel relationship for asubstantial distance from the end of the limb whereupon it will be seenthat the side walls are then disposed in an inclined direction until thenormal width of the limb is reached. The purpose of this constructionwill become apparent hereinafter.

As will be seen in FIGURE 2, the front 3a and rear 317 of the butt endportion 18 are inclined relative to one another at a steeper or greaterangle than the opposed front wall 12 and rear wall 13 of the socket 6.In this manner, when the limb 3 is in its fully seated or assembledposition as shown in FIGURE 2, it will be apparent that with the limbthus positioned, a substantial tapered space will be provided betweenthe juxtaposed front face 3a of the limb and front wall 12 of the socketdue to the aforedescribed differences in included angles. The respectivetapers of the front and rear walls of the limb and the correspondingwalls of the socket are such that when in the assembled position, bothof these walls of the limb will form a tight fit with the front and rearwalls of the socket at the immediate open end of the socket member, thusit will be understood that the aforesaid space adjacent the front wall301 of the limb will begin at a point inwardly of the opening of thesocket and progressively increase towards the curved bottom wall 15 ofthe socket.

In order to provide a positive tight-fitting action between the butt end18 of the limb and the socket, a wedge actuating assembly, generallydesignated 19, is supported by the mounting face 6a disposed on thefront 8 of the bow handle and connected to the socket 6 at its outer endas most clearly shown in FIGURE 2. This wedge actuating assembly 19controls a wedge block 20, of generally triangular configuration in sideelevation, and which is adjustably mounted to provide movement to andfrom the opposed front face 3a of the limb. The front wall 12 of thesocket includes a wedge block opening 21 within which the wedge block 20is disposed, the wedge block being mounted therein by means of a leafspring 22 connected at one end to the outermost end of the wedge block20 and having its other end suitably attached to the undersurface of thesocket mounting face 6a. The leaf spring 22 is pre-tensioned so that thewedge block 20 will be constantly urged away from the socket opening andtoward the socket mounting face 6a. A rotary member comprising a lockscrew 23 passes through a tapped lock screw housing 24 and is adapted tohave its inner end in constant engagement with one side of the wedgeblock 20 whereby rotation of this lock screw 23 will cause axialdisplacement therof, which displacement will correspondingly displacethe Wedge block 20 either to or from the rear wall of the socketaccording to the particular direction the lock screw is turned.

Suitable actuating means for manipulating the lock screw 23 are providedin the form of an actuating lever 25 connected to the lock screwadjacent the head thereof. The actuating lever includes an outwardlyprojecting finger arm 26 at one end and a base 27 which is looselyattached to the lock screw 23 and includes suitable locking means suchas the set screw 28 for rigidly connecting the actuating lever 25 to thelock screw 23 to prevent relative angular displacement therewith. Stopmeans comprising a saddle catch 29 for engaging and retaining theactuating lever 25 in its locked position are mounted through the socketmounting face 6a. From a review of FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be observedthat the saddle catch 29 comprises an integral member including a guideramp 30 inclined upwardly from the outer edge thereof, and intermediatenotch 31 and an adjacent vertical stop wall 32. The saddle catch 29 isnormally spring urged by means of a catch spring 33 suitably mountedbeneath the mounting face 6a and provides ready means whereby theactuating lever 25 may be placed in its locked operative position bymerely moving the finger arm 26 in a clockwise direction as viewed inFIGURE 3 until it engages the guide ramp 30 whereupon the entire saddlecatch 29 will be forced inwardly of the socket against the force of thecatch spring 33 until the intermediate portion of the finger arm 26snaps into the notch 31 of the saddle catch whereupon the catch spring33 will force the catch outwardly to retain the actuating lever 25 inthis position between the raised adjacent vertical walls of the guideramp 30 and stop wall 32. It will be apparent that the catch 29 thusserves as an indicating means to announce to the archer whether or notthe wedge block is fully locked since this will only be true if theactuating lever is seated within the notch 31 thereof.

The sequence of assembling and disassembling the takedown bow will nowbe described. With the handle section 1 separate from the upper andlower ends 2 and 3, the actuating levers 25 provided on both the upperand lower socket assemblies 5 and 6 are turned clockwise until disposedin the locked position as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2, whereupon it willbe seen that the respective wedge blocks 20 will be displaced inwardlytowards the rear walls 13 of the sockets by reason of the axialdisplacement of the lock screws 23, which displacement of the wedgeblocks will be against the resiliency of the leaf springs 22. With thewedge blocks thus positioned, the butt ends 18 of the limbs are insertedinto the respective socket openings and driven to their limitstherewithin by the application of normal manual pressure. In view of theaforedescribed relative inclinations of the tapers of the butt ends ofthe limbs and the front and rear walls of the sockets and the projectionof the wedge blocks 20 into the space formed therebetween, it will beseen that the front face 3a of each limb will strike the juxtaposedsurface of the wedge block 20 prior to the complete insertion of thelimb into the socket, thereby producing a wedging action which, as thelimb is further driven into the socket, increases to a considerabledegree to provide an extremely tight fit between the limbs and thehandle section 1.

The precise degree of the wedge locking action produced during the aboveassembly of the limbs may be readily adjusted by altering the relativeangular displacement between the lock screw 23 and actuating lever 25.This is achieved by releasing the set screw 28 thereby permitting theactuating lever 25 to be moved counterclockwise without actuallydisplacing the lock screw 23 and thereafter the set screw 28 may beretightened so that subsequent clockwise movement of the actuating leverwill rotate the lock screw through a greater angle to increase theinward axial displacement of the screw and the wedge block 20 before thefinger arm 26 of the actuating lever is locked into the notch 31 of thesaddle catch 29. It will follow that alternatively the set screw 28 maybe loosened and the lever 25 held fast while the lock screw 23 isrotated to alter the relationship therebetween.

To disassemble the limbs from the handle section, the saddle catch 29 isdepressed against the force of the catch spring 33 such as by pushingdownwardly on the stop wall 32 with one finger which in turn willdepress the integral inclined guide ramp so that it will be positionedbeneath the undersurface of the lever 25, thereby permittingcounterclockwise movement of the actuating lever to axially displace thelock screw 23 outwardly from the mounting face 19 and thereby cause theleaf spring 22 to move the wedge block 20 away from the opposed frontface 3a of the limb. Once this has been done, the forceful wedgingaction will be released and the limb may be readily removed from thesocket by pulling it away from the handle section. Quite often, it maybe necessary prior to removing the limb from the socket to break thepressure of the tapered limb in the socket by sharply pressing the limbdown away from the actuating handle side whereafter the limb can bereadily removed from the handle section. To facilitate this action itwill be noted that the free end of the butt portions 18 are well spacedfrom the bottom wall 15 of the sockets when locked therein to provideclearance adjacent the end portions permitting pivoting of the limbsabout the outermost free edge of the socket openings.

The aforedescribed reduced lateral dimension of the free end of the butt18 of each limb is for the purpose of providing means for aligning thetwo limbs of the bow. When the limbs are fully seated in their lockedposition within their respective sockets, it will be understood that thesides of the limbs immediately adjacent the free ends of the buttportions will be spaced inwardly a substantial distance from the innersurfaces of the side walls 16 and 17 of the sockets. Mounted withinthese side walls are a pair of oppositely disposed limb adjustmentscrews 34, 34 which are adapted to be axially displaced through tappedopenings provided through the side Walls adjacent the bottom wall 15 ofthe socket. When the limbs are fully seated within the sockets, it willbe seen (FIGURE 2) that the inner ends of the screws 34 will be disposedopposite the reduced lateral portion of the limb butts 18.

It will thus follow that by manipulating the two screws 34 in eachsocket that the axial displacement of the respective limb may be alteredby moving one screw inwardly and the opposite screw outwardly wherebythe limb will axially pivot about the outermost edge surrounding theopening to the socket member.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificfeatures shown but that the means of construction herein disclosedcomprise the preferred form of the several modes of putting theinvention into effect and the invention will there-fore be understood inany of its forms or modifications within the legitimate valid scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A takedown archery bow comprising, a handle section and at least onedetachable limb, a rigid socket member mounted in the end of said handlesection adjacent said detachable limb, said member having inclined frontand rear interior walls extending substantially to the bottom thereofand defining a V-shaped socket cavity therein, said lim'b including abutt end having inclined front and rear faces tapering toward the freeend of said butt, said butt when inserted in said socket memberpresenting a fit therein sufficiently loose to permit easy removal ofsaid butt from said socket cavity, displaceable block means in saidsocket member adapted to be moved into engagement with one of said buttfaces to tightly retain said limb within said handle section, and meansfor moving said block means transversely of said socket member and intosaid engagement with said limb.

2. A takedown archery bow according to claim 1, wherein said butt frontand rear faces are tapered to provide an included angle greater than theincluded angle defined by said socket front and rear walls, whereby aclearance exists between said butt faces and said socket walls toprovide said loose fit, and said block means is disposed within saidclearance.

3. In a takedown archery bow having a handle section and a detachablelimb, a tapered socket fixedly mounted in one end of said handle sectionfor receiving the butt end portion of said limb, wedge means in saidsocket for retaining said limb therein, actuating means for displacingsaid wedge means to and from its retaining position within said socket,and spring means supporting said wedge means within said socket and inconstant engagement with said actuating means, and said spring meanshaving one end secured to said wedge means and its other end secured tosaid socket.

4. 'In a takedown archery bow having a handle section and a detachablelimb, a tapered socket fixedly mounted in one end of said handle sectionfor receiving the butt end portion of said limb, wedge means in saidsocket for retaining said limb therein, actuating means for displacingsaid wedge means to and from its retaining position within said socket,said actuating means including a rotary member axially displaceable andengaging one side of said wedge means to move said wedge means to andfrom engagement with said butt end portion of said limb, a leverattached to said rotary member, and catch means engaging said lever toretain said wedge means in contact with said butt end portion of saidlimb.

S. A takedown archery bow according to claim 1, wherein said socketmember includes a pair of oppositely disposed side walls, the Width ofsaid limb butt adjacent the free end thereof is less than the spacebetween said side 20 wherein said socket member is provided with anelongated reinforcing member embedded within said handle section andextending toward the center of said handle section.

7. A takedown archery bow according to claim 1, including a pair ofdetachable limbs and one of said socket members is provided at both endsof said handle section.

8. A takedown archery bow according to claim 7, wherein each of saidsocket members is provided with an elongated reinforcing member embeddedwithin said handle section and extending toward the center of saidhandle section, and a tie rod embedded within said handle section andjoining said two reinforcing means.

References Cited Grable 124-24 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

25 W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner.

